A Year In Pop: 26

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Whoa-oh, we're halfway there! And here's Bon Jovi to mark the occasion.

Expect a special halfway report later this week or start of next.

[Poll #1013930]

Meanwhile - Kate Nash???? Srsly???

Comments

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

ANYWAY the rest, in order.

Fergie Ferg - brilliant heartfelt ballad ft. "I'm not gonna miss you like a child misses its blanket" - who knew Our Ferg could, you know, sing properly? She is a revelation.

Timbaland - the only song on the album I'm feeling - this is pretty much entirely down to Keri Hilson, whose glacial melancholy is very appealing. I've got a couple of her own tracks, 'Hands & Feet' and 'High Heels' - they're both EXCELLENT, I am eagerly anticipating her solo album. I think the rave synths work loads better here than in 'My Love', fwiw. Incidentally the 'Hands & Feet' chorus goes "Boy you got big feet, and you got big hands/So I already know what's up in your pants/Where'd you get that from, your daddy?", and 'High Heels' goes "I HATE HEELS! I HATE HEELS! Love how they look but hate how they feel" = HURRAH

Gwen Stefani - nicely understated ballad. Not as good as 'Early Winter' though HINT HINT.

That's it for the ticks. I like a couple of songs on the Robin Thicke album but not this one - I dislike him, generally, he's smarmy and smug and his lyrics are a bit creepy, this is one of the worst offenders - "baby you're the perfect weight", stfu boy.

Everything else is pretty much beneath contempt. Ronson/Allen notable only because halfway through I did a double take b/c I thought she sang something about coming on like a "powered-up black man", I googled the lyrics and it's NOT that but the fact that this was actually plausible says a lot.

I have still never heard an Arctic Monkeys song :D

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Yeah I was tempted to withold my tick for Gwen because releasing this means that Early Winter surely won't be a 'proper' single :(

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

This is only the third single off the album though isn't it? There's hope yet, it's not as if the album is overflowing with potential singles.

[fathands.livejournal.com]

You have to be joking about the Fergie song, right?! It's fucking terrible.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Clearly you never had a blanket :(

[fathands.livejournal.com]

Or as Fergie pronounces it 'blayenkeeeedt'

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

I've only heard it once on its own (ie not whilst listening to the whole album) and I agree it did lose something without the context. But the album is so genius that she must have a tick.

[boyofbadgers.livejournal.com]

It's not the worst thing on the album, it's true, but it is definitely not any good at all.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

It's my second favourite on the album after 'Glamorous'!

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I think it's gorgeous! It sounds very un-Ferg, I didn't know she had something like this in her. I like the stiff-upper-lip feel, you can virtually hear the tears drying on Ferg's cheek.

[fathands.livejournal.com]

But it sounds like she's forgotten how to speak English and is mangling all the words!

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

It is the effect of the blanket-loss!

Thicke

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

I like this Robin T single! Another example of recent playlisting by Radio 2 leading me to get to know a song and warm to it.